Kuzguncuk is a neighborhood in the Üsküdar district on the Asian side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. The neighborhood is centered on a valley opening to the Bosphorus and is somewhat isolated from the main part of the city, being surrounded by nature preserves, cemeteries, and a military installation. It is a quiet neighborhood with streets lined with antique wooden houses.

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The word kuzguncuk means "little raven" or "barred window of a prison door" in Turkish. The name is said to have come from a holy person named Kuzgun Baba, who lived in the area during the time of Sultan Mehmet II[1] or from the corruption of a previous name, Kozinitza.[2]

During Byzantine times, this area may have been called Khrysokeramos (Hrisokeramos), meaning "golden tile," because of a church here with a gilded roof.[3] Around 553, Narses had a church built here dedicated to the Virgin Mary.[4]

Jews, who were expelled from Spain and Portugal, began settling in the Ottoman Empire in the late 15th century. As voluntary immigrants, they had more freedom concerning their place of residence, and many left the traditional Jewish quarters of Istanbul such as Balat for villages along the Bosphorus such as Kuzguncuk. The earliest evidence of Jewish presence in the neighborhood is a tombstone dated 1562.[5]

Armenians began settling in Kuzguncuk in the 18th century and had become a sizable group by the 19th century. Ottoman records show an 1834 request that their nighttime religious services be allowed to continue without interference. In 1835, their first church was built.[6]

After the establishment of Israel, the Jewish population, once sizable in Kuzguncuk, decreased rapidly.

The riots of 1955 caused the emigration of many members of Istanbul's minority groups, including Kuzguncuk's Greeks and Armenians. There are very few non-Muslims left today. This exodus opened up cheap housing to immigrants from Anatolia, changing the ethnic composition of Istanbul's neighborhoods. Most of the new residents of Kuzguncuk came from the Black Sea Region.[7] By the end of the 20th century, 15% of neighborhood residents were from İnebolu, 15% from Rize, 10% from Trabzon, 10% from Tokat, 10% from Kars, and 10% from Sivas.[8]

The police station in Kuzguncuk was moved due to low crime statistics.[citation needed]

There was no mosque in the center of the neighborhood until 1952, when the Kuzguncuk Mosque was built in the courtyard of the Armenian church (with building funds that included donations from the Armenian congregation).[13] The Üryanizade Mosque along the shore on the northern edge of the neighborhood was built as a mescit (small mosque) in 1860.[14]

The place with its historical mansions, churches, synagogues and mosques, cobblestone paved streets, plane trees and vegetable gardens, attracts film makers as a natural film set. Since the shooting of the popular TV comedy series Perihan Abla in the mid 1990s, Kuzguncuk became a favorite film set for several other TV series and commercials. The residents, however, are not pleased with the continuous discomfort caused by the shootings day and night.[15][16][17][18]